"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Paying Double: United States Spends Over $1.4 Billion Annually on Remedial Education for Recent High School…

Data from the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) are designed to provide a national picture of the rate at which secondary school students with disabilities complete high school and how they fare in their early postschool years. Further, comparisons of findings from NLTS2 and the original NLTS enables an investigation of changes in…

This paper is intended to promote discussion among professionals, policymakers, employers, parents, and individuals with disabilities concerning current and future challenges facing secondary education and transition services nationally. The issues identified and discussed should not, however, be viewed as inclusive of the full range of possible…

The colleges in the Illinois Community College System submit detailed student records twice during each fiscal year. This report is based on fiscal year 2004 enrollments and completions and comparative information is supplied from the four previous fiscal years (2000-2003) are also presented. Detailed tables comparing fiscal year 2003 and fiscal…

This study evaluates the effect that the size of a state's school districts has on public high school graduation rates. The authors calculate the graduation rate over the last decade and examine the relationship between these graduation rates and changes in each state's average school district size. The study finds that decreasing the size of…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004 established a requirement that all states develop and submit to the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) a performance plan designed to improve the educational and functional outcomes for children with disabilities. The state plan must…

The annual "U.S. News and World Report" "America's Best Colleges" issue has become the nation's de facto higher education accountability system, evaluating colleges and universities on a common scale and creating strong incentives for institutions to do things that raise their ratings. But, says the author, the "U.S. News" ranking system is deeply…

Howard Bowen (1996) wryly observed decades ago that colleges and universities raise all the money they can, and then they spend it. His point was that institutions have more good ideas than they can fully fund. As a consequence, they are constantly making choices as to how to best use their finite resources. Where and how resources are allocated…

Starting a new position is exhilarating. The key challenge is to make the strange familiar as soon as possible. There are new policies to learn, new colleagues to get to know, and new surroundings to adapt to. All these aspects and more need to be understood and managed well in order to focus on the primary task at hand--teaching and learning. Of…

More than 300 tribal representatives and educators from across New Mexico met at Ohkay Owingeh on December 19, 2005, to discuss ways to improve education for American Indian students in New Mexico. The Summit was a collaborative effort by New Mexico's Office of Indian Affairs, Public Education Department, Higher Education Department, and tribal…

Controversies over graduation rates and No Child Left Behind have raged in research, media and political circles for almost a year. All too often, though, when complex issues of social and economic importance collide with policy and politics, heat is generated but little light. As a result, it may be difficult for local educators to parse the…

These essays by former Governor James B. Hunt Jr. and business leader Thomas J. Tierney lay out in succinct fashion the requirements of both our nation and our states for new and higher levels of performance from America's colleges and universities. The authors of these essays are not theorists writing from an ivory tower. Quite the contrary,…

National data indicate that many differences remain between Hispanics and non-Hispanics regarding baccalaureate attainment, even though the general status of Hispanics in higher education has improved. Official data on California students suggest that there is no single point in the California educational pipeline that accounts for the entire gap…

The Miami Valley Tech Prep Consortium, headquartered at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio, engages a wide range of students in Tech Prep pathways that span high school and college. Students are offered a blend of technical and academic coursework, as well as extensive supports enhanced by a sophisticated professional development system.…

Based on the writings and research of Mary Anne Raywid (1994) and Gary Wehlage (1989), this study sought to identify characteristics of effective alternative high schools in Iowa. This effectiveness was identified as both student retention and graduate completion. The following characteristics were not positively related to graduate completion…